Growing Pains: Colin Warner Was Locked Up for 21 Years for a Crime He Didn’t Commit

Many people dream of their lives being made into movies. Maybe Halle Berry or Denzel Washington will play you in your epic life story.

Colin Warner’s life was recently made into a movie called Crown Heights, but it wasn’t the type of biopic Warner was hoping for. The movie told the story of Warner’s arrest in the Crown Heights section of New York City’s Brooklyn borough for the murder of a neighborhood teen. Warner served 21 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Warner is now a free man, but his freedom wasn’t an easy journey. Luckily, Warner’s best friend, Carl King, lived his life devoted to proving Warner’s innocence and relentlessly fought for 21 long years to get him out of prison. I don’t know if I have what it takes to be that kind of friend.

Crown Heights is a brilliant film that gives you the gut-wrenching story of an innocent man being put away, while friendship sets him free. But hearing Warner’s story in his own words is a chilling example of the horrors of racism plaguing us through the justice system and a beautiful example of the ability to come out on the other side brand-new. Watch Growing Pains above.